Melbourne, 1929. The year starts off for glamorous private investigator Phryne Fisher with a rather trying heat wave and more mysteries than you could prod a parasol at. Simultaneously investigating the apparent suicide death of a man on St Kilda beach and trying to find a lost, illegitimate child who could be heir to a wealthy old woman's fortune, Phryne needs all her wits about her, particularly when she has to tangle with a group of thoroughly unpleasant Bright Young Things. But Phryne Fisher is a force of nature, and takes in her elegant stride what might make others quail, including terrifying séances, ghosts, Kif smokers, the threat of human sacrifices, dubious spirit guides and maps to buried pirate treasure...

"Greenwood's classy British whodunit, set in Melbourne, Australia, in 1929 once again features the young, irrepressible private eye Phryne Fisher. With the help of her eager coterie of snoops, including down-to-earth housekeeper Dot and Phryne's adopted daughters, they delve into a suicide that could be a homicide and the hunt for the illegitimate heir to a fortune. The superb Stephanie Daniel, who has been down the road with Phryne many times before, shines as the smart, sharp-tongued, but totally likable, sleuth; her no-nonsense housekeeper; and a group of vulgar 'bright young things'. This seventeenth in the series is as crisp, clever, and thoroughly enjoyable as ever."AudioFile Magazine